Arizona guard projections

Jason Scheer

05/28/2014

Arizona has plenty of strength in its backcourt next season. Read on for full projections of how we think it will do.

There are going to be plenty of expectations surrounding Arizona's roster next season. The following is where we feel each guard's expectations should be. While we feel that Stanley Johnson will start at the two, he is a natural forward and will be included in that breakdown.

T.J. McConnell: It will be interesting to see if McConnell approaches this season like he did last, which is as a relatively passive offensive point guard that focuses more on getting his teammates buckets.

That's not a bad thing at all, but he showed the ability to score when he was more aggressive and Arizona was seemingly a better team. Our guess is that he is a little more aggressive and puts up similar assist numbers, but average 2-4 more points per game, thus putting his averages at about 12 points and five assists per outing.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright: PJC is going to come in and give McConnell a rest. There always a slight possibility Miller decides to play small segments of a game with both on the court, but we don't see that happening too much. The expectation is that Jackson-Cartwright can come in and run the offense effectively for as much as ten minutes per game. Based on what we saw from him in high school, we think he can meet those expectations, but this is obviously a different level of play.
Gabe York: Last season, York shot 37 percent from the field and the main reason it was so high is because of his three-point shooting ability. He is going to have to become better within the arc if he is going to increase his 22 minutes per game last season. It may be hard to do so regardless, but we are expecting a similar season to the one in which he put up almost seven points per game.

As long as his defense keeps improving and his offensive production becomes more efficient, York is going to get the same minutes. We're going to go ahead and predict he puts up similar numbers, but actually plays a little less than he did last season.

Kadeem Allen: We don't really know about Allen to feel comfortable making any type of prediction, but that's part of the fun of this. We know he is a very good defender, so he should be able to get a nice chunk of minutes per game.

In addition, Allen is better offensively than he probably gets credit for. We can see him coming in and playing 15 minutes or so right away and scoring close to ten points if he is able to reach his full potential. Obviously we will know a lot more once he practices and gets on the court.

Elliott Pitts: Pitts struggled with injury last season and it led to him only scoring about a basket per game and playing eight minutes. Don't be surprised if Pitts is the guy that makes a big jump from his freshman to sophomore year. We're guessing his minutes will increase and with that, we believe he is going to at least double his scoring output. Pitts absolutely has to improve defensively, but the work since last season should help him do that.